2005 elections

What will Menino say?

adamg — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 03:36:03 +0000

Kevin wonders whether Menino's inaugural address will include this:

... I will appoint Councilor Hennigan to a new cabinet-level position called Director of I Told You So. Her responsibility will be to review every department in my administration and tell them, again, what they are doing wrong. ...

Felix Arroyo's campaign contributors

adamg — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 03:48:41 +0000

The Globe recently reported that City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who topped the at-large ballot last month and who might run for mayor in 2009, raised two-thirds of his money from outside Boston.

Interesting as far as it goes, but dagnabbit, why didn't they also tell us where Felix Arroyo's money came from? After all, he came in second on the ballot last month and he might run for mayor in 2009.

So naturally, I downloaded Arroyo's financial records from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance so I could see the rest of the story.

Dear City Councilor Felix Arroyo

adamg — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 21:15:33 +0000

Yeah, yeah, nice that you got re-elected. Now that the coffers for your 2009 mayoral campaign are filling up, could you do your constituents a favor and buy an automated calling system that disconnects when somebody hangs up on it? Sooner or later, somebody will get a call from your automaton double thanking them for voting for you and they will hang up and then they'll have a heart attack and they'll try to dial 911 only they won't be able to because your voice is still on the phone babbling away and then they'll die. And that just wouldn't look good on the evening news.

Malden results

adamg — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:51:06 +0000

Right here. Also check out the story about the School Committee member said he wouldn't take his seat if he won, what with an A&B charge hanging over his head, only he won and now he refuses to say if he really won't serve.

Election notes: Will Menino overhaul city government?

adamg — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:37:30 +0000

The Globe wraps up the results and quotes former City Councilor Larry DiCara that this mandate will let Menino restructure city government (as opposed to his previous mandates?).

The Herald also provides a wrap-up. Its former councilor of choice is Michael McCormack, who gets off a good one about the election being a replay of David and Goliath, only this time Goliath had a howitzer (note to bostonherald.com: Could you guys buy another hamster? The one powering your Web site this morning seems awfully tired). Hennigan tells the Herald she might run again.

On the City Council side of things, don't count on sweeping changes since only one newcomer (Yoon, profiled by the Herald) gained a seat. John Connolly got squeezed between the new-Boston Yoon supporters and the old-line Murphy voters. But while turnout among minorities once again rose (helping Yoon and Arroyo), yuppies once again largely sat on their oh-so-toned asses, dooming the campaigns of people like Susan Passoni and Gibran Rivera. All this leaves Adam at the Phoenix feeling let down.

Eileen McNamara says would-be Republican governor Kerry Healey could learn from Hennigan's failed bid - how to avoid being trivialized.

Boston election results: What now?

adamg — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 02:42:33 +0000

Polls may show dissatisfaction with the state of the city, but you wouldn't know it from the results - Menino beat Hennigan 2-1 - overwhelming not only the hapless city councilor but people who either voted for her or cast blanks as a protest against the nascent Imperial Mayor.

On the city council, the big news is the election of Sam Yoon to an at-large seat. First Asian-American to hold such a seat. Felix Arroyo came in second to vote machine Michael Flaherty. For me, the big surprise was Steve Murphy's re-election. After his shellacking in the sheriff's race last year, he seemed to be on his way out. Shows you what I know - and how important the union vote still is in this town. At the district level, South Boston's Jimmy Kelly easily swamped the South End's Susan Passoni, as West Roxbury's John Tobin did to Jamaica Plain's Gibran Rivera (hmm, imagine if, somehow, JP and the South End were joined in a single district).

So what's it all mean?

Boston election results

adamg — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 01:41:27 +0000

Live results for the mayoral and city-council races.

Hennigan or him again?

adamg — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 15:02:06 +0000

John Connolly, or, at least, his sign, towers over other candidates at the Holy Name School in West Roxbury.

Around 8 this morning, the school, which houses a polling station with one of the highest turnouts in the city, was a beehive of activity. There were few voters, but plenty of politicians (and a Fox 25 news crew), all of them ignoring that quaint law requiring them to stand, oh, 75 or 150 feet away from the entrance to the polling place. Incumbent at-large Councilor Steve Murphy and wannabe at-large Councilor Matt O'Malley bracketed the stairs to the entrance (O'Malley even introduced himself to voters exiting the polls).

Murphy anxiously awaits the next voter:

What would an election-day hotspot be without a visit from Hizzoner?

Campaign notes: Almost over

adamg — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 14:04:40 +0000

Adrian Walker hauls out the newcomer cliche column and doesn't say anything new about people like Sam Yoon and Susan Passoni, just that they are new.

Adam explains why he'll be voting for Hennigan, Arroyo, Yoon, Connolly and O'Malley.

The Globe looks at the at-large race as a preliminary for the 2009 mayoral election and at efforts by service unions to get out the vote for minority candidates. The Herald basically says there's an election tomorrow.

A lot of the stuff Hennigan says about cleaning house is pretty much identical to what a new Mayor Menino said in 1993.

Campaign notes: Stunned by Menino's arrogance

adamg — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 14:10:54 +0000

In a Globe interview, Tom Menino says he has some creative ideas for public housing:

Q: Can you suggest -- can you mention some of those new ideas?

A: No, why should I do it before the election?

John is outraged:

... That response is a kick in the teeth to anyone living in the city of Boston. It is insulting and arrogant. ...

The Herald reports most people are willing to forget Menino's mistakes, which it helpfully lists. The Herald also reports on a poll that shows Menino winning - but not necessarily in a landslide - and predicts the winners of the at-large council races.

A list of candidates and their Web sites.

Campaign notes: Fewer than 3% of city employees make mayoral contributions

adamg — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 14:09:29 +0000

The focus of the Globe story was that almost every city employee who has made a donation has made it to Menino. That would be 438 of 440 employees who "have been identified" on campaign records. But there are 16,000 city employees.

In District 6 (Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury), Latinos ponder whether to vote for Latino Gibran Rivera (more specifically, the small group of Latinos living in JP that the Globe interviewed).

The city-council candidate you've never heard of

adamg — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 22:51:04 +0000

That would be Joe Ureneck, who, for whatever reasons, never even bothered to try to run in the September preliminary and so is running as a write-in candidate on Tuesday (which I know thanks to his citywide mailing). Check out his Web site to see how he manages to make Ed Flynn look like a flaming liberal (be sure to check out his essay on the Common Sense of Senator Santorum).

Bay Windows interviewed Ureneck a couple months back.

Campaign notes: Rent stabilization in the outcome?

adamg — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 12:50:46 +0000

Tuesday's election could mean a city council more willing to consider things like an elected school committee and rent stabilization, the Globe suggests. Over my dead body, John fumes - at least, when it comes to rent stabilization.

Imagine that: Jimmy Kelly likes gay people. Or, at least, is willing to support civil unions (not marriage). Oh, how far he's come.

The Dorchester Reporter looks at who's endorsing whom in the mayoral and city council races.

Don't you dare bring up the election at Phil's Barber Shop on Centre Street in West Roxbury.

Rob Consalvo (city councilor for Hyde Park and a bit of Roslindale) is running hard even though he has no opposition.

South End News election endorsements

SRV — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:50:38 +0000

The South End News endorsed Susan Passoni in the District 2 race; Menino for Mayor; and Felix Arroyo, Patricia White, Matt O'Malley and Michael Flaherty in the At-Large race. The newspaper does not have a Web site. Here's the editorial:

editorial

Boston City Council endorsements

This yearâ€™s crop of candidates for Boston City Council is the strongest weâ€™ve seen in years. Voters are better off for it. When we go to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 8, weâ€™ll have an opportunity to send new energy, ideas and passion to Bostonâ€™s much-maligned City Council.

One of the themes emerging from the At-Large race is that the Council is only as strong as its members make it. Although the Councilâ€™s powers technically reside just in its authority to approve the Mayorâ€™s budget, the Council is a powerful bully pulpit from which to push policy ideas and endorse social movements.

Bay Windows City Council endorsements

SRV — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:45:07 +0000

Bay Windows endorsed Mayor Menino for reelection ("[I]t's hard to think of another big-city mayor who is more supportive of LGBT rights than Menino.") and Susan Passoni ("[I]t is long past the time that the South End, home to one of the city's highest concentrations of gay residents, was represented by someone who sees LGBT people as equally deserving of Constitutional rights as every other citizen.") for District 2 City Councilor.

In the At-Large race, the paper endorsed Matt O'Malley, Michael Flaherty, Patricia White and Felix Arroyo. Click